1. Field
The disclosed concept relates generally to the control of thermostatically controlled devices, and, in particular, to a system employing a centralized control module for intelligently controlling a number of thermostatically controlled devices.
2. Background Information
A typical U.S. residential home has multiple thermostatically controlled devices like an HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) system, a water heater, a space heater, a spa, etc. These devices consume about 70% of the electricity in a typical home. Electrical energy wastage frequently occurs in these systems due to excessive or unnecessary heating or cooling as compared to what may actually be required. Significant savings can be achieved by dynamic set-point adjustments of these thermostatically controlled devices based on operating conditions and user trends. It was estimated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that by employing efficient programming control of these devices, around 23% of electrical power can be saved. The existing solutions (independent programmable thermostats) require tedious manual programming, and therefore most are not actually programmed after installation. it was also observed that due to programming inaccuracies, the savings actually realized is likely to be much less than intended. Hence, an automated and centralized solution that is easy fir a contractor (installer) and/or occupant to setup and configure is needed to intelligently control the various thermostatically controlled devices in an environment, such as a home, for higher savings.